Help - Can't decide between Southwest and Airtran

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I want to book our May flights today before prices go up overnight, but I am torn trying to decide between Airtran and Southwest. We flew through Southwest before and had a good experience but we have never used Airtran before. I like Southwest's no bag fee and no change fee policies; but the only nonstop flight they are offering on each of the departure days we could select would put us in Orlando at 7:30pm which would shave a day off of our itinerary plans, plus the total cost of the flight would be about $140 more than Airtran. With Airtran the flights are a little cheaper and we really like the nonstop schedules they offer; but I am concerned about some of the things I've heard about their service, they charge bag fees, and they have a high change fee ($75 per person) which concerns me if an emergency happens and the need arises to change our flights. Not sure what to do and I really want to make a decision sooner than later. Any suggestions?

 

[richmo]

You brought up most of the differences between the two.

My opinion would be that if you're pretty set on your flight times and it makes economic sense, go with AirTran.

AirTran is part of Southwest now and they're becoming more integrated every day. (I understand some to the AirTran jets have been painted as Southwest now). Personally, I've never had any problems with either airline.

Another thing you could consider is you could do AirTran one way and Southwest the other. Most, if not all, of the pricing for both airlines are one way fares. Of course, always add in the bag fees for AirTran when you compute prices.

If you're not absolutely sure about your flight times, then I'd go with Southwest. As you pointed out, its a lot easier to change Southwest flights.

 

[dworldlovers]

Airtran charges for seat assignments also. We have flown on both, but usually fly Southwest now because of the no-fees. Getting to MCO at 7:30pm is a bummer. I like the idea of using both airlines going down and coming home. I hope it works out for you! Price is important, but getting there earlier in the day has a lot of value, too!!

 

[Disneylover99]

We have never flown Southwest, but we have flown with Airtran once.
There were no problems at all.

We just booked again with them just week.
We got direct flights for 8 am. going to Orlando, and coming back our flight leaves at 6ish - perfect times for our family because we like to get to Disney early and spend the day in dtd before we fly home. We are paying 199 per person return.

I priced out jet blue and southwest and even with their no fees, we couldn't find cheaper then Airtran.

We are a family of four going for 13 days and we have packing down to a science. We only check 2 large pieces of luggage and bring 4 small carry ons (which are free). The first bag is 25$ and the second bag is 20$ (under one person's name). Total for bags 90$. Which works out to about 222$ each.

Plus the travel times are so amazing!

 

[Nancy F]

The only way I'd fly Southwest is if they were THE ONLY ones flying to Orlando. I like to upgrade to business and Southwest doesn't have BC. I'll be picking another airline when they complete the merge.
Nancy

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

SWA is who I would go with IF your flight prices happen to go down on SWA you can apply for a flight credit. I am leaving next week and yesterday my flight home went down and I got a credit of $76! and I am only a week away from my trip. Then I saw this morning that to stay one extra day at WDW and using my $76 credit would only cost me $40 so I switched my flight again. You can change flights without paying a fee. Bags fly free.

 

[trewin]

I flew both and haven't had any problems with either. I just made the same decision. They are the only two airlines w nonstop flights from my home airport. I went w Airtran because they were cheaper & had better times. I don't think there's much difference between the two service wise- it's only a flight, it'll be over in a few hours! There's always a chance of a delay or rude flight attendant with any airline.
I did however purchase the travel insurance they offer for $15 per person. I don't know if its worth it or not but I figured it couldn't hurt for the price. I will be 26 weeks pregnant on our trip- never know! You might want to look into that if your worried about something coming up.

 

[travelcoupons]

The only way I'd fly Southwest is if they were THE ONLY ones flying to Orlando. I like to upgrade to business and Southwest doesn't have BC. I'll be picking another airline when they complete the merge.
Nancy

agreed...I'd pick airtran over southwest any day. Hated to see Southwest take over airtran.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Thank you for all your replies. This is tougher than I imagined it would be. I am leaning towards Airtran for the better nonstop schedules, but once I pay for the seat assignment fees (both flights have a lot of seats taken already), the insurance (don't feel comfortable with the high change fee), and the checked bag fees (we have to check at least two bags for the six of us) the total price is much more than Southwest! I wonder if its just better overall to sacrifice a day by going with Southwest and having that evening nonstop flight to Orlando??? Decisions, decisions.....

 

[richmo]

...This is tougher than I imagined it would be. ... I wonder if its just better overall to sacrifice a day by going with Southwest and having that evening nonstop flight to Orlando??? Decisions, decisions.....

It is tough, but remember time is the most valuable commodity of all. Unless the difference was drastic, I wouldn't sacrifice the time.

 

[RumpleMom]

I love being able to rebook when Southwest has a sale. The credit gets used for our next trip.

Southwest seats have more leg room.

I have used SWA many times and have always been pleased with their service.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

After taking many factors into consideration we decided to go with Southwest for both of our flights. We really like the flexibility of their no change fee and no bag fee policies and that we don't have to pay for seat assignments. We didn't do the early bird check in with our last flights through Southwest and were still able to get a good boarding position by making sure we did the online check in as soon as our 24 hour window opened up. We are committed to our vacation plans for May, but really like having the flexibility of changing our flights without penalty (other than a possible difference in fare prices) if something comes up or if a really great deal/promotional offer becomes available for a different timeframe. I considered the travel insurance offered by Airtran, but the insurance coverage is based only on specific events or emergency circumstances that may occur. We realize that by having a later flight into Orlando that we will lose a day of activity and not really be able to do anything on our arrival day; but now I am thinking that won't necessarily be a bad thing. We can have a relaxed departure day, get a good night's rest that evening, and be refreshed and ready for our first full day of vacation instead of trying to do too much on a travel day (which is what we did on our last WDW trip). Thanks again everyone

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I just wanted to bump this thread to update that we were able to change our arrival date flight to that earlier flight schedule offered by AirTran since some AirTran operated flights became available for booking through Southwest's website. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us because we still have the Southwest no change fee or bag fee policies since we booked our original flights through Southwest, plus the new flight was cheaper so we now have a flight credit! I know I mentioned in my post about having a low key arrival day, but old habits are hard to break! LOL! I could not resist the opportunity to maximize our days for this trip, especially since we are only staying six nights total. So now because of our flight schedules we have seven days of fun. Thanks again for everyone's feedback from before. It all ended up working out. I will have to report back and let you all know how the seating issue works out though! That is a whole other topic and thread, but I have faith it will work out and I am doing my research on that too.